Ask HN: How do I convince my employer to let me work from home? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do I convince my employer to let me work from home?

2 pointsyoung_blood7 comments

I am 8 months post Autologous stem-cell transplant for treatment of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and as such, I am still immuno-suppressed. I am already extremely concerned about contracting COVID-19 since I am required to visit the hospital once every three weeks for post transplant treatment, and I know they're already under-equipped to handle the situation. I am a developer who could work from home, if my employer allowed. Unfortunately, my employer has taken the "wait until it's an issue" stance, and expects that employees use their PTO to cover any days we take off. Their current work from home stance is "it is not currently possible to allow all employees to work remotely" meaning that no employees can work remotely.

For the health and safety of myself and those around me, how can I convince my employer to allow me to work from home?

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Hey, (tongue in cheek here...)

Maybe if there were some way to draw up a some type of contract/agreement between you and the employer, covering the possibility that if your vector of infection (if it happens) was caused by going to work (commuting with people, being at the location, etc.), when a suitable alternative was available (remote working), they take full responsibility in the event of you contracting the illness. (COVID-19)

And being responsible for placing you (someone immuno-compromised) into an environment where the possibility of infection may be arguably higher than working from home. They are responsible, maybe to the largest extent, of you getting sick and dying.

Unfortunately, if the worst case happens and you contract the disease, and die, perhaps someone related to you might gain some type of financial benefit. But again, you're still dead.

Again this is tongue in cheek, so what do I know. Like most of us, you probably signed away all rights to sue and therefore anything like this is moot.

The typical American POV is that you should have thought about something like this a long time ago and had insurance that covers the possibility of you getting sick and dying. It's not your employer's responsibility to keep you healthy, or necessarily to provide you a space to work that's safe from these types of threats. Ultimately it's all your fault.

You're welcome.

So the only solace you can take would unfortunately be very dark. As in, "If I get it, I'm sure as fuck gonna make sure you all get it....". Yeah, that sucks and really takes that whole team morale down a bit. As well as scares the fark outta me when I think about some of the people I work with (a lot) that might be, just that pissed.

Welcome to America!

The state I work in is an "at will" state, so you're right that I'm at the whim of my employer. I also need health insurance to cover my ongoing treatment, and sometimes it feels like my employer knows that as well. Why would they worry about how they treat me when they know that there's no way I can just leave?

Letting you work from home in this situation might be considered a "reasonable accommodation" under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). The ADA applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

Here's some information about the ADA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Ac...

There may also be applicable laws in your state. Just because an employee is at-will doesn't mean that they have no legal protections.

You may want to contact a lawyer specializing in employment law for more information on what your legal rights are in this situation.

I hope everything goes well for you.

From my understanding of the ADA, my employer is only required to make some "reasonable accommodations" available, and not tailor them to my specific needs. As stated in the link provided, "An employer is not required to provide an accommodation that would involve undue hardship (significant difficulty or expense)." I would think it would be possible for my employer to argue that setting up remote work would involve undue hardship...

How could an accommodation be "reasonable" if it didn't actually address your specific needs?

A lawyer would be able to give you a more definitive answer as to what constitutes "undue hardship" and what your employer's obligations would be.

> Their current work from home stance is "it is not currently possible to allow all employees to work remotely"

That it's impossible for "all employees" is irrelevant. You'd only be asking for an accommodation for a single employee, yourself, not a change in their overall policy.

Start coughing loudly at your desk.

This might get me sent home, but this doesn't help me continue to make money while out of work. The problem is I am not in a position where I can take two weeks of unpaid leave. We are already only given 12 days of PTO, and I have to use those to cover the days I go to treatment.

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